ste steve kornacki, co-host of "the cycle." you start with your biggest clue. you've said already, i've seen on my screen, who's winning the definition, meaning who's defining the debate in their terms. how does that go? explain. >> romney has always wanted this race to be a referendum. he's made a mistake because people have of telegraphing their big question, do you want another four years like the last four years? if the president wants a strong comeback, he can pull the debate into what he's done the last few months, the ground of choice. who stands up for the middle class, who favors the few, build prosperity by strengthening the middle class, who believes in trickle down. whoever wins that battle for defense is most likely to be the winner of the debate. >> steve, that brings up the question. he says, let's not go back to bush, could almost guarantee romney will then say, don't blame all our troubles on bush. and then you got that surrebuttal, final punch, oh, yeah how are you different from bush? something like that. >> right. there's been a pact in the